


allergy season

by Trickster88



Series: i started a joke that started the whole world crying [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Explosion, Gen, Irondad, Peter Parker Whump, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Whump, Whumptober 2019, its whump time y'all, pietro voice: bet you didn't see this coming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 08:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20870963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trickster88/pseuds/Trickster88
Summary: “I’m the one in control, Stark.” Peter’s fingers are curled tight in the lapels of his hoodie, the bomb blinking slowly on his chest. “I hold your world in my hands. You have nothing.”*Written for the prompt 'explosion' for Whumptober 2019.





	allergy season

**Author's Note:**

> Day two! I made it y'all! Watch this not last lmao. Fair warning that this is totally unbeta'd.
> 
> Written for the prompt 'explosion' for Whumptober 2019.

“Peter?”

Tony blinks furiously, willing the scene in front of him to somehow synthesize into making sense. The gun in his hand falters, dipping an inch lower, but his paranoia won’t let him drop it completely. There’s the part of his brain that’s screaming  _ danger danger DANGER _ , and a larger part of him that’s beyond freaked about the fact that he has a  _ gun  _ leveled at  _ Peter’s chest _ .

It freezes him, stuck there on repeat, for what may be the longest second of his life.

“What are you  _ doing _ here?” He demands, dread sitting in his stomach like a hot stone. His stomach acid curdles around it, bitter and sharp. He’s been playing cat and mouse with the latest mass-murdering nutcase for three days now, and it’s led him here, to this creepy-as-hell basement (distantly, a voice in his brain that sounds suspiciously like Peter murmurs,  _ underground lair _ ).

“Hello, Tony.” Peter says slowly, eyes wide and full of fear. It sounds unnatural, stilted, and Tony’s jaw clenches when he finally clocks the earpiece in Peter’s ear. “Bet you didn’t see this coming.”

“What would you like me to make him say next?” Peter’s voice quivers ever so slightly, and Tony sees red. How dare someone even come  _ near  _ his kid - he knew the guy was an idiot, but  _ this _ ? He just signed his own death warrant. Peter’s hands move to pull down the zipper on his hoodie, exposing the explosive vest underneath. That’s real C4, he can smell the motor oil scent from here. “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers - “

“Stop it. Stop!” Tony commands, hand tightening on the gun, and he wheels on the cavernous room - but there’s no one there, no one but them. 

“ - How many pecks of pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?” Peter finishes the rhyme, and Tony looks back at him helplessly, gun dropping another few inches. Peter sniffs subtly, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, but he doesn’t let them spill over.

(The kid is strong,  _ so goddamn strong _ . Tony is going to burn this whole operation to the  _ ground _ .)

“This is your chance to come out of this alive.” Tony’s surprised by how even his voice comes out, with the rage and fear that claws at his insides. Peter stares at him, bottom lip tucked under his teeth with worry. “You’re fucked either way pal, but if you let the kid go - I’ll  _ allow  _ you to live.”

“I’m the one in control, Stark.” Peter’s fingers are curled tight in the lapels of his hoodie, the bomb blinking slowly on his chest. “I hold your world in my hands. You have nothing.”

“That’s right,” Tony tries to convey, with his eyes, what he’s thinking.  _ You’ll be okay, I’ll get you out I swear _ . Peter keeps staring, and Tony wills him to understand. “My world is in your hands. Great motivator, don’t you think?”

“I would have hoped it would motivate you to b-behave.” Peter stutters on the last word, sucking in a deep breath. His eyes dart from Tony’s to the corner of the room behind Tony’s shoulder, and back again. He does it twice before Tony catches his meaning, and he only barely resists the urge to look.

“You just don’t take a hint, do you, sweetheart?” Tony inclines his head ever so slightly, and Peter nods once, very slowly.  _ Smart kid _ . “I’m just not that into you.” 

“I have had enough of your meddling.” Peter enunciates the words that aren’t his slowly, but Tony’s eyes are caught on the kid’s hands. He spreads his fingers deliberately on the lapels of his hoodie, bringing them down one by one. Tony counts  _ eight _ . “This is your warning. Back off.”

“Uh huh. Sure. Done. Consider it backed. No longer on official business.” Tony raises his left hand to Boy Scout salute, three fingers in the air, while his right still holds the gun aloft. “Scout’s honor. Now we’ve just got the personal vendetta to deal with.”

Peter doesn’t say anything in response, but his face twists at whatever the psycho is saying into his ear. He hesitates, but only briefly, and if Tony weren’t watching him so closely, he might have missed Peter’s next move.

He doesn’t miss it, though. And he wishes he did.

Peter slaps himself, hard, in the face. The smack echoes on the grungy, concrete walls, and Tony flinches despite himself. The kid didn’t pull it, either -  _ probably because the bastard told him not too _ . Peter’s eyes water, this time from pain instead of fear, and the spot on his cheek starts to blush, a stinging red.

That’s it. Tony’s definitely going to kill this son of a bitch.

“You were saying?” Peter bites out the words, and Tony watches as his fingers go around again,  _ eight _ . “My patience runs thin.”

“Yeah well, I got you beat there.” Tony’s finger twitches on the trigger, and he meets Peter’s eyes with a short nod. “Fuck you.” 

He spins and shoots the hidden camera, in the corner Peter had indicated. Bullseye. When he turns back around, the kid has already shed the vest and flung it towards the opposite wall - Peter crosses the distance between them in a single, enhanced bound, and Tony doesn’t fight it when Peter picks him up, making for the door as fast as (in)humanly possible. They only barely make it around the corner of the opposite wall before the bomb explodes, sending a rattling shockwave through the basement. 

Their eight second trigger delay is up.

It knocks Peter’s feet out from under him, and they both go sprawling - Tony’s pretty sure he hit his head as he went down in a pile of limbs with the kid, but he’s already scrambling to get up, to make sure Peter is unharmed. The kid coughs, dust spraying from the door they just exited - no doubt it caved in part of the ceiling and then some. The damage above ground is probably extensive, but all Tony can worry about it whether or not  _ the kid is okay, please let him be okay _ .

“Ugh,” Peter sneezes, dust falling out of his curls, and he blinks at up at Tony before he sneezes again. “Is it allergy season, or is it just me?”

“I hate you.” Tony’s actions don’t match up with his words in the slightest as he pulls Peter into his chest, wrapping his arms around the boy, tight. Peter mumbles some half-hearted protest, but he clings right back, fingers curled in the back of Tony’s shirt. “The Bugle’s right, you’re an absolute menace.”

“Takes one to know one,” Peter murmurs, and Tony closes his eyes, tucking Peter’s face into his neck. He’s  _ okay _ . 

But the bastard that did this? He sure as hell won’t be. Not once Tony’s done with him.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please consider [the Big Bang fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20798009) I just finished!
> 
> Follow my writing blog at [thwip--thwip](http://thwip--thwip.tumblr.com) for more debatably decent content.  
[Rebloggable link](https://thwip--thwip.tumblr.com/post/188096282825/allergy-season-by-trickster88-im-the-one-in) <3
> 
> Comment if you liked it! Love you all 3000.


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